Children Exhibit Mixed Coping Mechanisms For Mental Wellbeing: TRAC 2022 Report

The report also has findings from primary data collected from 15 states across the four pillars of child rights

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With a spotlight on mental health and psychosocial well-being of children amid covid-19, Bal Raksha Bharat (Save the Children) in their study found 14 different coping strategies (which are further classified underthree categories – problem focused, emotion-focused, and avoidant coping) and assesses coping patterns amongst children during the pandemic.

The organisation launched the first edition of its flagship report TRAC 2022 – The Rights and Agency of Children. It aims to contribute to policy and programme making at national, state and local levels towards strengthening mental health systems across all relevant departments.

Key finding from the primary data collection reflects that of the surveyed children, one in two children used avoidant coping (52.7 per cent), and problem-focused coping (51.0 per cent) often/more often, followed by using emotion-focused coping (43.3 per cent) mechanism. The most commonly used coping strategies were religious coping, which was practiced more among rural adolescents compared to urban settings.

The primary study on mental health and psychosocial well-being amid covid-19 with 4200 children highlights the coping strategy used by children to face the distress caused by the pandemic in the last two years, using a global Brief-COPE study tool (Coping Experience to Problem Experienced). Findings of this section have been drawn out of a consultation with 4200 children across 5 states of India (Assam, Bihar, MP, Telangana, UP), and secondary literature review across different countries.

Unveiling the maiden edition of this report on assessing child rights through the period, Rakesh Ranjan, Mission Director, Aspirational District Program, NITI Aayog said, “The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development represents the highest aspirations for a bright future for the world’s children and serves as the blueprint for creating the world that children need and are demanding. Data and evidence on progress of child rights will play a crucial role in enabling the success of such government run programmes. I complement Save the Children for bringing out the TRAC report which not only highlights the issues that concern children in India, through their own voices but also mentions the efforts by the central and state governments to improve the future of Children in India.”

Dr Shekhar Seshadri, former Director, NIMHANS and Advisor SAMVAD said, “Child Mental Health lies not in textbooks of Psychiatry, but out there in the community, in the streets, in homes and families in child care institutions and schools in books, music and the theatre of everyday life."

The key trends highlighted by the secondary literature review across different states highlights: onset of new mental health concerns and worsening of pre-existing mental health conditions among children, disproportionate effect of covid-19 on children from disadvantaged groups, excessive burden on healthcare infrastructure resulted in neglect of psychiatric needs,among others.

The report also has findings from primary data collected from 15 states across the four pillars of child rights, along with secondary data analysis on budgetary, programme and policy trends on children’s agenda.